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IP: behind the scenes at the SDMI
From: David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 21:48:13 -0400
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 18:42:37 -0700 To: farber () cis upenn edu From: ehellweg () business2 com (Eric Hellweg) Subject: behind the scenes at the SDMI hi dave here's a story from our current issue on the the state of online music. I was able to get some behind the scenes info from SDMI members that doesn't paint a pretty picture for that standard's survival. feel free to post to the group. (for full story, go to http://www.business2.com/articles/1999/09/content/break.html) Musical Discord Two technologies both ultimately inadequate for the task at hand fight to be top dog in the downloadable music market. By Eric Hellweg It's fitting that the first spark in the legal, social, financial, political, and technological firestorm that downloadable music has become, was the golden oldie "Unchained Melody." In 1993, New York City's Frank Music publisher of the song backed by licensing clearinghouse The Harry Fox Agency, sued CompuServe for allowing its users to download the song from its "MIDI/Music Forum." The Fox Agency counted 690 downloads of more than 500 songs on the forum, and sued the online service for $69 million $100,000 for each "willful and intentional act of infringement" on the basis that CompuServe had not secured the licensing required to "broadcast" the songs. (In 1995, CompuServe settled the suit before it went to trial, paying the bulk of $568,000 to the copyright holders.) Jim Maki, the man running the MIDI/Music Forum for CompuServe was alarmingly prescient at the time. "The real question is how do you control this?" he asked. "The music industry is scared to death of this information highway." .... Eric Hellweg Senior Editor BUSINESS 2.0 magazine v: 415/468-4684 x732 f: 415/656-2483
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- IP: behind the scenes at the SDMI David Farber (Sep 13)